The
Hero as Poet. Dante: Shakspeare.
by
Thomas Carlyle
A man can be anyone. He is what
profession he takes up.
This universe has a mystery in all
times and places. It is an open secret which is open to all and seen by almost
none. Vates bring such things to the light of people. Vates can be either a
Prophet or a Poet in some old language. Vates Prophet explains the moral side
while Vates Poet explains the aesthetic side of the mystery of the universe.
The former explains what to do and the latter explains what to love. Both
cannot be disjointed because the good is beautiful and the beautiful has in it
the good.
Since a man can be anyone, he can
be a poet if he has some skills and can be noticeable. If he is noticeable
throughout the world they are termed as universal poets by the critics.
True Poetry and true Speech must
have some difference, some say. Both stem from deep thoughts. If True Poetry is
a song, True Speech has accent. Basically, both are melodious. Therefore, no
one is inferior to each other among Vates Prophet and Vates Poet. Both are
Heroic Gifts and are admired equally by man.
There are two great people: Dante
and Shakespeare. They are Saints of Poetry.
Dante lived five centuries before
the speaker. Only a portrait and a book is there to know about him. He was born
at Florence, in the upper class society, in 1265. His education was the best of
that time. He was a soldier then on embassy then one of the Chief Magistrates
of Florence. Beatrice Portinari, a girl he fell in love with, married another
and died soon after. She is the subject of most of his poems. When he was in
power, his own friends in his party proved deceitful and the State snatched all
his property and he was abandoned from the place. All these miseries he brooded
over resulted in the creation of his "Divine Comedy." He worked for
this in solace and exile. It has his whole history and he died after that at
the age of 56 in Ravenna.
Normal speech becomes musical when
delivered with deep passion. There are also pretenders who express in a musical
way without deep passion.
Thomas Carlyle calls his 'Divine
Comedy' a song. It uses Terza Rima stanza form. The depth sincerity of it makes
it musical. Thomas Carlyle says that no other work known to him are as
elaborate as 'Divine Comedy.' His silence is more eloquent than words.
Dante's painting
To be continued. .....
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